Ever.
All that blank space above is because I'm not 100% where to start after that amazing opener. What is the best way to tell this story? How do I put into words the things I experienced?
Before we get to the good shit (the falls, the freezing, the weeping,) let me set up for you how this was supposed to go.
I decided last week that I would tap into my adventurous spirit, my love of the outdoors and my motivation for better fitness by planning a solo hike and overnight camp at Shi Shi Beach. I would drive over to the Olympic Peninsula early on Saturday morning to make it for the 2 pm low tide, set up camp and come back on Sunday evening. I repeatedly checked the weather on Thursday and Friday, and up into Saturday until I lost service. At that time, the forecast said slight rain on Saturday, partially cloudy Sunday and no colder than 40 degrees. I did a LOT of research for this trip. I checked the current trail conditions which are usually "somewhat muddy", so I made sure my boots were waterproofed. I planned ahead for the 2 passes I would need to obtain and the parking situation. I checked that my water filtration system would work for the coastal streams in case I ran out of water. I set up my tent and all of my stuff 2 days before, just to make sure everything worked and was ready to go. Since I was backpacking all of my stuff in, I also did minimal packing so I would not have extra weight I didn't need, ending up with my pack just under 40 pounds- which is not terrible in terms of backpacking weight considering my pack itself it pretty heavy. I was prepared, damnit, and I was going to do this. I knew it would be hard, but that was part of the appeal. I can thrive in adversity, and I'm trying to do more of that.
Here's a quick overview of Shi Shi: it's considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world to many travelers because of it's seclusion and incredible sea stacks to the south known as Point of Arches. It's about a 5 hour drive to the trail-head from Seattle and supposedly the trail is 10 miles roundtrip (yeah, more on that later). It's considered part of the Olympic National Parks system, but really it is in the Makah Indian Reservation, and so it's all tribal land, which means you need 2 permits- one wilderness camping permit from the NPS and one Makah recreation pass- and you must stay on the main trail. Check and check.
As I drove, I kept thinking to myself, 'Wow, Could tomorrow (Sunday) be one of the best days of my life? Waking up on a beautiful beach in the Northwestern most point of the country, surrounded by towering sea stacks, with mountains and rain forest just to the east of me?' I was so excited about that prospect that those thoughts alone spurred me on during the first day's hike, which I honestly thought was going to be the worst of it. I was wrong.
That brings us to Saturday's hike in. If you are planning an overnight on the beach, you have to park at the overnight lot just about 0.6 miles away. However, there is more than one lot, and I managed to park in the furthest possible lot at over a mile a way. I hid my pack at the trail head so that first mile I didn't need to haul it along. I got to the trail head, ready to go and happy for some decent weather. It was a bit wet, and I fell more than once on the slick, warped wooden boardwalks in the forest. I made it about a mile and a half in before the mud trouble started.
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| Look, Ma, no hands! |
Remember earlier, with the "somewhat muddy"? Yeah, no. The next mile and a half was trudging through calf deep mud. I would have had to be wearing gaiters in order to stay dry, and on the way out, nothing would have helped, but I'll get to that. It was strenuous, but I kept a decent pace (as decent as I possible could), and finally got to the end of the wooded part of the trail. I had read online about the descent down from the woods to the beach. The general consensus was that it is somewhat steep but there were ropes that some didn't need "at all". At the end of this trail, there was a cliff. You descend 200 feet down a cliff, using tree roots as if they were uneven rungs on the world's most dangerous ladder.
Does that look steep to you?
This picture doesn't really express the disheartened and concerned feeling I had growing in the pit of my stomach. It was hard to find the trail and there was about 50 feet of descent before I got to the ropes. Which wouldn't have been as bad without a 37lb pack and shoes coated in slippery mud, but I was not about to turn back, not when I was so close (pssst... nope) and tomorrow would be so nice (spoiler alert: NOPE).
After many nervous tugs to the rope and questionably stable steps, I made it in one piece to the beach below. There was no signage, but I knew I had to go south so that's what I did. I had scouted a few different reports of mileage down this beach, but most said a mile. It's closer to 2. In sand, after walking for hours, and with a heavy pack, that extra distance was trying. Also, they say there are a few creeks and that after the last one is the campground. The hardest part was the creeks, of which there were actually 6, some larger than others, with the last one being the largest at about 15 feet across with 8 inches or so of frigid, rushing water. My boots were already off at this point, so I rolled up my pants and waded through, trying to keep as dry as possible. I was doing pretty well until I was hit in the leg with rock about the size of a baseball. And at once, much of me was soaked and part of the bag was soppy. I got up. Then I kept walking. 10 minutes later I decided I had gone far enough to drop my pack and rest, get some water and pull out my camera for a little bit of exploring. When I was as rested as I was going to be, I set off for Point of Arches. The tide was still somewhat low which was good because I thought I was going to miss it, since the hike had taken 2 hours longer than expected. It was pretty and I snapped a few pictures, but I was exhausted and figured I'd get a few more on Sunday when the weather was nicer. As you've probably gathered by now, that was not the reality. Here are a few pictures from Saturday night.
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| I AM THE BATMAN! |
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| Sure you are, dude. |
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| Northern most cape of Shi Shi Beach |
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| Point of Arches. Check out the sea cave in the stack to the left. |
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| Ohhhh so that's why the name! |
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| Sea cave in foreground complimented by phallic rock |
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| I like how this one came out. |
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| Peekaboo Rock. (Not really, I don't know that it has a name) |
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| The piles of driftwood up against the forest border. When the tide comes in, don't be on the wrong part of the beach. |
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| Crazy fuchsia sunset streak |
I set up camp pretty easily, I dug some nice deep dead man anchors to make sure that my rain fly stayed down. That's nerdy camper talk for staking down my tent! I settled down pretty quickly into my mat and sleeping bag and tried with a lot of difficulty to fall asleep. Which is what I'm going to try to do right now. I will post the second half of my Lora vs. Nature saga tomorrow.
Love you big as those sea stacks.
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